Timely investment in the construction of nuclear icebreakers makes Russia a leader in the development of the Arctic. Writes about this Chinese edition Sohu.
The icebreaker fleet, rebuilt in the shortest possible time, demanded billions of investments from Russia, but the Northern Sea Route will bring the state tens of times more profit. The FBA “Economics Today” reports.
“Russia has a long Arctic coastline, and today it has to think not only about the development of the region, but also about its protection from foreign competitors,” the newspaper writes.
Currently, the icebreaker fleet has 50 ships, which will be joined by another 5 military nuclear icebreakers at the end of 2033 as part of the auxiliary fleet program. To implement the year-round functionality of the Northern Sea Route, Russia intends to strengthen the defensive potential of the flotilla in order to avoid hybrid attacks from competitors.
The Suez Canal and the Strait of Malacca were previously considered the only routes in the north, but now they are inferior to the potential of the Russian-developed Arctic direction.